


Where Were You?

by pagethepunisher



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), basically everyone tries to get over their issues for the sake of the universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 10:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15705585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pagethepunisher/pseuds/pagethepunisher
Summary: You, Tony, and Nebula manage to make it back to Earth from Titan. Life after Thanos’ destruction proves itself to be difficult. To save the universe, you must work together. But what’s a team when you’re all at odds?





	Where Were You?

**Author's Note:**

> A mess. From beginning to end.

_*Aboard Nebula’s ship, headed to the Avengers compound*_

“You’ve never been to Earth. I have. Therefore, I will be the one in control.”

You make a face towards Tony. “I’ve been to earth, too. Idiot.”

“Yeah, but I’ve done more things in the atmosphere, relatively, so I’ll just do you two a favor and get us home.” Tony pauses and glances at Nebula. “Smoothly.” 

Nebula smirks. “This is my ship. And I, at any moment, can throw you out into the vacuum of space. Choose your words wisely.”

“Too late for that. By the way, your ship might not survive the entry.” Your attention is drawn to small flames outside the window that quickly grow to engulf the ship. 

“What?” Nebula lunges for the controls and yells at the ship’s computer system. “Engage reverse thrusters!”

“This isn’t your ship, Stark!” She snarls. 

Tony raises his hands in defense. “Hey, hey. This thing is a piece of junk anyways.”

“Tony!” You yell. “None of us are going to survive if you two keep arguing. We’ve literally turned into a meteorite.”

“Yeah, okay, okay, I hear you.” Tony turns his back and begans to do a systems check. “Is there a cooling system in here?”

“I don’t know. You’re in control. Figure it out.” Nebula calls bitterly over her shoulder as she walks away and turns a corner. Frustrated and running out of time, you push Tony out the captain’s chair. 

“Move.” You say, and using your limited knowledge of aircrafts, you work on trying to reduce the flames outside the ship and attempt to land it somewhat safely. However, as you get closer to your destination you see that all of the landing pads are covered by scrap metal and vehicles. 

“Uh, Tony....” You call out, getting no response. 

“Tony, there’s no where to land!” You yell frantically, trying to lift the ship back up away from the ground. It’s no use though, and instead of the ship thrusting back up, the hand controls lock up. You get out of the seat and run towards the back to brace yourself for impact. 

“Take cover!” You yell to no one in particular and shut your eyes. 

The crash is drawn out and you know that the ship has probably been sent straight through half of the perfectly manicured lawn. When you open your eyes you see that nothing but the ship’s frame is left intact and Nebula and Tony are sitting in charred grass. 

You take a moment, eyes blown wide, to let your body register that you are, in fact, still alive. It’s dark, cold, and quiet outside the once lively Avengers compound. It’s doesn’t seem as though any alarms were tripped or that there was anyone who heard the crash outside even though there are lights on in the building. 

You stand up and walk to Tony to help him up. Nebula has already gone defensive, backing towards the edge of the woods with her weapons drawn.

It’s seems as thought Tony also knows what’s coming for them. He isn’t letting you help him get up and is instead letting his entire body weight hang down. You let go and his arm drops. 

“I know what your thinking.” He whispers, mostly likely referencing the inevitable reunion of himself and a man he once called his friend. 

“If you did, you’d be standing.” You retort. “Come on, its freezing out here.”

Tony doesn’t budge. 

“Fine then. You two can keep each other warm.” Your hand waves between Nebula and him. As you begin to walk away, Tony calls out to you in a broken voice. 

“Pepper. You think he got her too?”

“You’re not going to figure that out here, are you?” You say without stoping on your path towards a side door. 

You find the door locked so you walk back to the edge ruble and look for something that can be used as a makeshift crowbar. It takes time, and multiple pieces of the ship to pop it open, but you finally manage. 

The hall past the broken hinges is dimly lit and pin drop silent. You begin to wonder if there isn’t anyone home. Maybe Thanos had gotten them all, maybe the lights were systematically on to ward off would be burglars. 

Your mind immediately starts running through your plan b, thinking of the fastest way to Wakanda. 

A shift of the light in the hall catches your attention. In the distance, two figures are heading towards you. Your mouth starts to goes sour with nervousness and excitement. 

The figures become clearer and clearer until you find yourself in a tight embrace with your feet hanging off the ground. 

“Where the hell of you been.” Steve says, his voice muffled in your hair. 

“Language, Captain.” You joke tearfully. Your arms form a death grip around his neck. 

Steve let’s you down and Natasha steps right in to hug you as well. 

“I though you had also...”

“I’m glad to see that you’re okay too.” You interrupt. “Why is it so quiet here?”

“We turned off the alarms, and all the walls are soundproofed. Everyone here is on edge. We didn’t want to make it worse.”

Natasha nodded in agreement. “Are you alone?” 

“No. Tony and someone else named Nebula, they’re outside. We were the only ones left from a place called Titan. I wouldn’t approach them right now, though. They’re not really in a talking mood-“ 

Something brushed against your leg and startled you. Looking down, a medium sized mammal stood staring right up at you. In its hands was a gun that was more than half its size. 

“I heard ya say something ‘bout Nebula.” It said. You didn’t reply, too shocked by what you were seeing.

“Is this another one Tony’s creations?” You asked shakily. Natasha laughed softly. 

“Steve, get her something to eat and then send her to the med bay. I’ll take care of things here.”

Steve silently thanked her with his eyes and took you down the hall by your hand. Your feet dragged as your eyes remained locked on the talking animal. 

Once you were sure that you were out of earshot, you immediately began to question Steve. 

“Did Tony make that?”

“No.”

“What’s going on here, Steve?”

“I hoped you would have the answer to that.” He let go of you once in the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling some food to make. “Did you see Thanos?”

“Yeah. We almost had him too. Unfortunately, there were a few stupid plays that were made.” You say guiltily. 

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I bet you say that to everyone.”

“I mean it.”

“I have no doubt in that.” You say and look him dead in the eyes. His gaze falls to the side and his movements falter. 

“I tried calling you.” He begins to explain. 

You fold your arms over your chest. “Tony called first.”

“Right.”

“Is this thing between you still going on?”

Steve slams a draw shut after pulling out untensils. “I gave him a phone with my number in it, I wrote him a note saying that he could call me whenever he needed me, I did everything on my part.”

“I’m not _blaming_ you,” You pause for a moment. “If it helps ease your conscious, I was there when he was about to call you. But there was this spaceship and these aliens who worked for Thanos and all of a sudden I was headed to another planet with Tony, a magician who could use the time stone, the spider kid, and this group called the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Steve looked up a the last mention. “Are the Guardians still with you?” He asked hopefully. 

“No. They uh- they’re gone.” You said slowly, still coming to terms with the damage that was done. 

“I’m sorry.” Steve says to fill the silence. 

“Yeah. Me too.”

Steve returns to preparing a meal and you pitch in where he’ll let you. You get the urge to ask him where everyone else is when you realize that you’d rather not have that answer just yet. 

You and Steve finish making food and he sits down at the breakfast bar with you and digs in. 

“Did you not have dinner?” You ask. 

“The serum.” He says, and you nod, immediately understanding. 

The food that was made was a glorious change from the disgusting rations and un-ripe yaro root stashed on Nebula’s ship for who knows how long. Steve finishes eating first and goes to the sink to rinse his plate. Over the water running from the tap, you hear footsteps getting closer to the kitchen. Your first thought is _Natasha_ and you look up expectantly. But before anyone comes into view, a booming voice makes the person known.

“Captain Rogers. Is that you?” It roars. 

Steve looks up from the sink, to you, then to the hall that the vistor is about to come from. 

You debate hiding or simply fleeing, but you find yourself frozen. The man who appears from behind the wall isn’t completely what you expect. Short blond hair, a now brown eye and facial scar, Thor is dressed casually, a large axe ready in hand, in place of mjolnir. 

He opens his mouth to continue talking to Steve but the sound never falls off of his tongue. 

All three occupants stand in the kitchen, in silence and almost darkness, each one of them wanting to die just a little inside. 

Steve bails first and places his plate into the sink and walks straight out of the kitchen. 

Thor watches him leave but you remain focused on how different he looks. When Thor turns back to you you move your gaze to some nonexistent imperfection on the table. 

“(Y/N)...” Thor manages to get out. “ **I hope that you are doing okay**.” His eyes give away that he knows that the statement is not in anyway helpful but he continues. “ **It’s been awhile.** ”


End file.
